IATA CEO and Director General Alexandre de Juniac has written an open letter to travel agents about the ‘dark days’ for the industry why regulators must ease requirements for cash refunds and allow airlines to issue vouchers instead. Here’s what he said: “The global airline industry is going through its gravest crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting government ordered border closings and mobility restrictions have brought air transport to a standstill. One-third of the global fleet is parked, and we estimate that revenue from passenger ticket sales will fall 44% this year compared to 2019. There simply is no precedent…
Author: holidayweekly
MADRID: The unprecedented shut down of the aviation industry has left airlines holding a prospective bill of up to $35 billion as refunds to passengers for sold but unused tickets. The bill triggered by the covid-19 crisis, will further put pressure on airline reserves with new analysis by the International Air Transport Association IATA, predicting that airlines could drawdown as much as $61 billion of their cash reserves during the second quarter ending 30 June, 2020. They will also post a net loss of $39 billion for the quarter. “In addition to unavoidable costs, airlines are faced with refunding sold…
WASHINGTON: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was holding calls with airline CEOs throughout the day on Friday, April 10 and announced details of a $32 billion payroll grant package later this afternoon. Under the $2.3 trillion CARES Act, passenger airlines are eligible for $25 billion in cash grants for payroll while cargo carriers can get $4 billion and airport contractors like caterers and airplane cleaners $3 billion. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told major airlines that he wants them to repay some of the $25 billion in cash grants the U.S. Congress approved last month to cover payroll costs as…
KATHMANDU: For the second time in five years, the snowy slopes of Everest will lie empty and silent. On 11 March, China suspended all climbing expeditions from the Tibetan side due to the coronavirus pandemic. Neighbouring Nepal supported the decision and followed suit, suspending the climbing season on its side of the mountain. Once again, as witnessed in 2015 when devastating earthquakes hit the region, no human being will summit the world’s highest peak this season. [huge_it_slider id=”536″] COVID-19 has had an enormous economic impact across the globe in terms of tourism. Adventure tourism is the backbone of Nepal’s economy,…
NEW YORK: US airlines have been ordered to give customers with cancelled flights cash refunds instead of vouchers. The US Department of Transportation stepped in after a flood of complaints from passengers who were being denied cash by the airlines. However, it hasn’t set a fixed timeline for refunds to be issued, saying instead that it will ‘exercise its prosecutorial discretion’ to allow airlines time to process refunds. “The Department is receiving an increasing number of complaints and inquiries from ticketed passengers, including many with non-refundable tickets, who describe having been denied refunds for flights that were cancelled or significantly…
BRUSELLS: Airlines must reimburse customers for flights cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union Transport Chief said on Wednesday, rejecting calls by carriers to relax European Union rules and allow a European Union-wide waiver of refund obligations. European Union Transport Commissioner Adina Valean also said the parameters could be changed for compliance with a United Nations climate scheme, scheduled to begin in 2021, following so many flight cancellations because of restrictions on movement to contain the novel coronavirus. As airlines seek government support, carriers say refunding hundreds of thousands of tickets will drain them of money. “In order…
GENEVA: The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has released a set of recommendations calling for urgent and strong support to help the global tourism sector not only recover from the unprecedented challenge of Covid-19 but to ‘grow back better’. The recommendations are the first output of the Global Tourism Crisis Committee, established by UNWTO with high-level representatives from across the tourism sector and from within the wider United Nations system. Recognising that tourism and transport has been among the hardest hit of all sectors, the recommendations are designed to support governments, the private sector and the international community in navigating the…
ANKARA: Turkey’s national flag carrier airline has announced that it would limit domestic flights amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. “Domestic flights from Istanbul [Airport] and Ankara [Esenboga Airport] have been limited to some metropolitan cities,” Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi said on Twitter. Eksi added that cargo flights would continue. On Friday, Turkey suspended all international flights as part of its measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. As for domestic transportation, travel between cities is subject to local authorities’ permission. The death toll in Turkey from the novel coronavirus stands at 92. After first appearing in Wuhan, China in…
LONDON: British Airways will temporarily suspend operations at Gatwick Airport in London as travel demand continues to stall in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. International Airlines Group – owner of British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus has already announced huge cuts to services, with the British flag-carrier to focus efforts on Heathrow in the short term. Gatwick itself is currently operating from a single terminal, following a sharp fall in flights. easyJet, a major operator at the south London airport, yesterday said it would suspend all departures for the foreseeable future in response to the crisis in global travel.…
LONDON: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged Middle East governments to support their airlines with regional revenues expected to plunge by almost 40 percent this year as the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) paralyzes global travel. The latest IATA scenario for potential revenue loss by carriers in Africa and the Middle East has reached $23 billion ($19 billion in the Middle East and $4 billion in Africa). That would translate into a drop of industry revenues this year of 32 percent for Africa and 39 percent for the Middle East, home to some of the biggest hubs for…